Method of determining broadband content usage within a system

ABSTRACT

An end user network access point monitors and collects usage statistics associated with all content accessed by the end user devices through the access point. One or more external control servers collect the usage statistics from each access point, thereby compiling macro-level statistics related to content accessed by the end user devices. The one or more external control servers can be co-located with the network equipment of the broadband infrastructure provider, or the one or more external control servers can be independent of the broadband infrastructure.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of U.S. provisional application, Ser.No. 60/652,258, filed Feb. 11, 2005, and entitled “METHOD OF ANDAPPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BROADBAND ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION OF CONTENTAND COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH AN ACCESS POINT,” by the same inventors. Thisapplication incorporates U.S. provisional application, Ser. No.60/652,258 in its entirety by reference. This application is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 11/031,498,filed Jan. 6, 2005, and entitled “TELEPHONE WITH AUTOMATIC SWITCHINGBETWEEN CELLULAR AND VOIP NETWORKS”, which is hereby incorporated byreference. U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 11/031,498 claims priorityof U.S. provisional application, Ser. No. 60/534,466, filed Jan. 6,2004, and entitled “RADIOTELEPHONE WITH AUTOMATIC SWITCHING BETWEENCELLULAR AND WI-FI NETWORKS USING WI-FI SIGNAL STRENGTH VALUES”, thecontent of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus forcontrolling broadband access and distribution of content andcommunications through an access point. In particular, the presentinvention relates to a method of and apparatus for controlling thequality of content provided over a broadband infrastructure through anaccess point to a plurality of end user network devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Current broadband transmission occurs from broadband infrastructureproviders to end users via such infrastructure as telephone DSL, TVcable, satellite, etc. Broadband content, such as movies, music, TVshows, web access, etc., that is transmitted over the broadbandtransmission infrastructure is provided by content providers. Somebroadband infrastructure providers determine which content providers canprovide content over their networks. For example, a cable televisionservice provider determines which channels, such as HBO, ESPN, or CNN,are available to their end user customers.

Current state of the art of a QoS (Quality of Service) is available forthe broadband transmission infrastructure, that is the physicalinfrastructure from the broadband infrastructure service providerlocation to end user premise located broadband network devices, such asa DSL/cable termination, DSL/cable modem, wireless/wired router, orgeneral access point. The QoS is applied to the physical transmissionmedium, and as such, the quality of all content provided over any givenphysical medium is dependent on the QoS of that given physical medium.All content provided over the given physical medium is subject to thesame QoS.

However, the broadband infrastructure provider has no control over theactual content that is provided by the content providers. The broadbandinfrastructure provider may wish to manage, or even block, certaincontent within the content provided by the content provider, but isunable to modify the content provided. A QoS is not available forbroadband “content”, especially from the end user broadband networkdevice to an end user device such as a computer, TV, or telephone. Inother words, current QoS methodologies enable broadband transmissioninfrastructures with required quality levels, but do not provideselective control of the “content” that is transmitted over these sameinfrastructures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally describes a method of and a system forbroadband/infrastructure providers to set, control, and operate acoercive/disruptive controller (CDC) to manage and provide broadbandcontent to an end user device.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a controller thatcontrols broadband content and communication from an end user broadbandnetwork access device to an end user device. Examples of an end userbroadband network access device include, but are not limited to, a DSLmodem, a cable modem, a DSL termination, a cable termination, a wirelessrouter, or a wired router. In general, the end user broadband networkdevice is an access point to the broadband infrastructure. Examples ofan end user device include, but are not limited to, a computer, anetwork appliance, a television, a telephone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), or any device capable of receiving broadband content.Communication between the access point and the end user devicepreferably includes a broadband connection, either wired or wireless.Wireless transmissions can be made over public standard based IEEE802.11 a/b/g, Wi-Max, or any other wireless based transmission media.Wired transmissions can be made over local area network (LAN), wide areanetwork (WAN), or any other wired transmission media.

In one embodiment, the controller is integrated within the access pointand utilizes content parameters and operation logic to manage andcontrol broadband content transmitted to the end user devices. Inanother embodiment, the controller is a stand alone device coupled tothe access point within a home or enterprise network. The controllereither operates independently or is dynamically set and controlled by aremotely coupled external controller or server. Using the controller,broadband content and communication for end user devices is seamlessly,dynamically, concurrently, and coercively/disruptively controlled.

The access point and the controller of the present invention preferablyenable broadband/infrastructure providers to dynamically manage andadminister the broadband content provided to the end user devices. Forexample, through the use of a local controller and/or an externallycoupled coercive/disruptive controller, QoS content parameters areset/reset, assigned/reassigned for broadband content provided by anygiven content provider. QoS parameters define, for example, jitter,priority, level of filtering, etc. Broadband content is managed andadministered according to the QoS content parameters, where the QoScontent parameters are content specific, that is based on contentorigination, specific content, and/or specific content characteristics.As such, the QoS content parameters are adjusted based on the broadbandcontent, making the QoS related to the broadband content independent ofthe content quality provided by the content provider. In this manner,the access point provides a content-specific QoS, where the QoS isapplied to the actual content, not to the physical media that deliversthe content.

Additionally, the access point monitors and collects usage statisticsassociated with all content accessed by the end user devices through theaccess point. One or more external control servers collect the usagestatistics from each access point, thereby compiling macro-levelstatistics related to content accessed by end user devices. The one ormore external control servers can be co-located with the networkequipment of the broadband infrastructure provider, or the one or moreexternal control servers can be independent of the broadbandinfrastructure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of one or more end userdevices coupled to an access point of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system implementedaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary methodology for dynamically configuringbroadband content transmitted to end user devices.

The present invention is described relative to the several views of thedrawings. Where appropriate and only where identical elements aredisclosed and shown in more than one drawing, the same reference numeralwill be used to represent such identical elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of one or more end userdevices 100-104 coupled to an access point 120 of the present invention.A broadband content controller 122 is preferably integrated within theaccess point 120. Alternatively, the broadband content controller isimplemented as a stand alone end user network element, wireless orwired, which is configured within a home or enterprise networkassociated with the end user devices. In this alternative embodiment,the broadband content controller is coupled to a conventional end userbroadband network access device to manage the content provided to theend user devices, as will be explained in greater detail below.

The access point 120 also includes a transceiver 128 adapted to transmitsignals to and receive signals from network connections 106, 108, 110,and 132. Each of the network connections 106, 108, 110, and 132 can beeither a wireless connection or a wired connection. As such, thetransceiver 128 is configured for both wired and wireless networkcommunications.

Each of the end user devices can be configured for wireless, wired, orboth wireless and wired communications. Exemplary end user devicesinclude, but are not limited to, computers, televisions, musicplayers/recorders, PDAs, telephones, or any conventional end user devicecapable of receiving broadband content. The end user device can also bea mobile communication device configured to automatically switch anexisting communication from a cellular network to a wireless IP network,or to switch an existing communication from an IP network to a cellularnetwork. Such a mobile communication device is described in co-pendingand co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/031,498, filed Jan. 6,2005, and entitled “TELEPHONE WITH AUTOMATIC SWITCHING BETWEEN CELLULARAND VOIP NETWORKS”, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

As shown in FIG. 1, end user device 100 is a wireless device coupled tothe access point 120 via wireless connection 106. Similarly, the enduser device 102 is a wireless device coupled to the access point 120 viathe wireless connection 108. The end user device 104 is a wired devicecoupled to the access point 120 via the wired connection 110. It isunderstood that the specific types of end user devices 100, 102, and104, and the specific transmission connections 106-110 made between theend user devices 100-104 and the access point 120 described above inrelation to FIG. 1 are for exemplary purposes only.

When the connection between an end user device, such as end user device104, and the access point 120, is a wired connection, such as wiredconnection 110, the end user device 104 preferably functions as anetwork access terminal extension, for example a telephone cradle.

The access point 120 is coupled to a broadband termination block 130 viathe broadband connection 132. The broadband connection 132 can be awired connection or a wireless connection. A wired connection to accesspoint 120 can be configured according to any conventional wiredtransmission protocol including, but not limited to, those used in LANsand WANs. A wireless connection to access point 120 can be configuredaccording to any conventional wireless transmission protocol including,but not limited to, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g and Wi-Max.

The broadband termination block 130 is either a physical device or alogical node where broadband content is received from an externalsource, such as a broadband infrastructure provider, and then suppliedto the access point 120. The broadband content includes content data,such as audio content data and/or video content data, as well as contentheader data that provides information related to the accompanyingaudio/video content data. Examples of content header data includecontent origination address, content specific information, videoparameters, audio parameters, and transmission media-specificparameters. The broadband content is provided from the broadbandtermination 130 to the access point 120. As the broadband terminationblock 130 can be considered a logical node, in an alternativeembodiment, the broadband termination block 130 is included within theaccess point 120.

The broadband content controller 122 sets quality of service (QoS)transmission characteristics associated with transmission of thereceived broadband content to the end user devices 100-104. The QoStransmission characteristics can differ or be the same depending onwhether the connection between the access point 120 and the end userdevices 100-104 are wired or wireless. The transmission characteristicsare also determined by the broadband content origination and by thenature of the audio/video content data. A content parameters module 124maintains various content parameter values associated with the QoStransmission characteristics.

These content parameter values are sent by the broadband contentcontroller 122 to the content parameter module 124, or are storedcontent parameter values are sent by the content parameter module 124 tothe broadband content controller 122. Preferably, the content parametervalues maintained by the content parameter module 124 are dynamicallyset by the broadband content controller 122. The content parametervalues are used by the controller 122 to manage the content provided tothe end user device 100-104. Content received by the access point 120from the broadband termination block 130 is monitored for its source.That is, each content is associated with a specific content provider. AQoS is associated with each content provider so that content parametervalues associated with each content provider are set according to theQoS of that content provider.

In operation, the broadband content controller 122 controls thetransmission of broadband content and communications to the end userdevices 100-104. The controller 122 is preferably integrated within theaccess point 120. Alternatively, the controller 122 is included within astand-alone network device coupled to an end user broadband networkelement, where the stand alone network device and the end user broadbandnetwork element are included within a home or enterprise network. Thecontroller 122 monitors broadband content received from the broadbandtermination block 130 to determine a content source of the broadbandcontent. Using the determined content source, the controller 122retrieves content parameter values from the content parameters module124, where the retrieved content parameter values are associated withthe determined content source. The retrieved content parameter valuesdictate the QoS transmission characteristics to be executed by thecontroller, as applied to the received broadband content. The QoStransmission characteristics can include, but are not limited to, aprocessing rate, a priority level, or a degree of filtering. Where theaccess point 120 receives more than one data stream of broadbandcontent, the priority level indicates which data stream is processedfirst, which is processed second, and so on. The access point 120 canalso include various processors with different processing speeds, wherethe content parameter values can dictate which processor is to be used.The access point 120 can also include one or more filter types, wherethe content parameter values can dictate whether or not the broadbandcontent is filtered for noise, what quality filter is used, or whetheror not the broadband content is blocked entirely.

Using the content parameter values to implement the QoS transmissioncharacteristics for a given content provider, the controller processesthe received broadband content before the content is sent to one or moreof the end user devices 100-104. In this manner, the actual content ismanaged prior to delivery to the end user device.

Preferably, each access point 120 is also configured to collect usagestatistics associated with all content that is accessed by the end userdevices 100-104. The usage statistics represent information related tothe content transmitted to the end user devices 100-104, and as such,the usage statistics represent the content usage patterns of the usersof the end user devices 100-104. The usage statistics are stored in adatabase 126.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system includingmultiple access points 120 and an external control server 242.Preferably, the control server 242 is co-located at a central office ofa broadband infrastructure provider 240. Alternatively, the controlserve 242 is implemented as a stand alone end user network elementcoupled to each of the access points 120. Although the system is shownin FIG. 2 as each access point 120 coupled directly to the controlserver 242, alternative embodiments are contemplated in which an accesspoint is indirectly coupled to the control server via one or moreintermediate access points. The network connections 232 are configuredusing any conventional communications media, either wireless or wired.The network connections 232 can be either the same network connections,such as network connection 232, used to transmit broadband content fromthe broadband infrastructure provider 240 to the access points 120, orthe network connections 232 can be independent of the networkconnections used to transmit broadband content from the broadbandinfrastructure provider 240 to the access points 120.

In the preferred embodiment, the control server 242 provides controlcommands and instructions to the controller 122 (FIG. 1) within eachaccess point 120. In part, these control commands and instructions set,reset, assign, and reassign the QoS transmission characteristicsassociated with transmission of the broadband content from access point120 to the end user devices 100-104 (FIG. 1). The control server 242maintains control of the content parameter values, which dictate the QoStransmission characteristics, stored in the content parameters module124 (FIG. 1) of each access point 120. The access point 120 thenprocesses the broadband content according to the stored contentparameter values, as described above in relation to FIG. 1. The accesspoint 120 administers the control commands and instructions sent fromthe control server 242 by dynamically managing and processing thebroadband content before it is transmitted to the end user devices100-104 (FIG. 1).

The control server 242 also functions as a centralized collection systemthat collects the usage statistics from each of the access points 120 inthe system. The control server 242 maintains a database of the collectedusage statistics that provides compiled usage information for allcontent distributed through the access points 120. Although the controlserver 242 is shown in FIG. 2 as a single server, the control server 242can include more than one server networked together. In this case, thecompiled usage statistics can be maintained in one of the servers, orthe compiled usage statistics can be copied such that two or more of thenetworked servers maintain a copy of the compiled usage statistics.

In operation, the control server 242 preferably manages QoS transmissioncharacteristics of the broadband content provided by access points 120to any end user device coupled to receive the broadband content. Theaccess points 120 preferably process and then transmit the broadbandcontent according to the QoS transmission characteristics provided bythe control server 242. The control server 242 also collects the usagestatistics stored by each of the access points 120. These usagestatistics are compiled to form macro-level content usage patterns.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary methodology for dynamically configuringbroadband content transmitted to end user devices by an access point. Atthe step 400, broadband content is provided to a broadband provider. Atthe step 410, broadband content parameters are set and maintained withinthe access point. In one embodiment, management and administration ofthe broadband content parameters is controlled by an external controlserver. In another embodiment, a broadband content controller within theaccess point independently sets and defines the broadband contentparameter values. At the step 420, the broadband content is transmittedby the broadband provider to the access point. The access point ispreferably an end user broadband network element, which can alsofunction as a broadband termination point.

At the step 430, the broadband content is dynamically configured withinthe access point, where the broadband content is configured according tothe broadband content parameters. The broadband content parametersdefine content-specific QoS transmission characteristics which are to beapplied on a content by content basis. At the step 440, the configuredbroadband content is transmitted from the access point to one or moreend user devices. The configured broadband content is transmitted to theend user devices over a wired or wireless connection.

At the step 450, each access point collects usage statistics associatedwith the content transmitted through the access point to the end userdevices. At the step 460, an external control server collects andcollates the usage statistics from each of the access points.

The present invention has been described in terms of specificembodiments incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of theprinciples of construction and operation of the invention. As such,references herein to specific embodiments and details thereof are notintended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that modifications can be made tothe embodiments chosen for illustration without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

1. An apparatus to collect usage statistics related to broadband content provided to one or more end user devices, the apparatus comprising: a. a controller to access one or more content data streams over a transmission infrastructure having a first quality of service that is applied to all of the content streams transmitted over the infrastructure, wherein each of the content data streams is identified by a content provider, and further wherein the controller is configured to receive a request for specific content from an end user device, to apply a second quality of service to the content data stream based on the content provider and to selectively transmit one of the one or more content data streams to the end user device according to the request, wherein the first quality of service is different than the second quality of service.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a transceiver configured for wireless or wired network communications.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a wired router or a wireless router.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a wired modem or a wireless modem.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a wireless access point.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a broadband network access point.
 7. A system to collect usage statistics related to broadband content provided to a plurality of end user devices, the system comprising: a. a plurality of end user network access points, wherein each end user network access point comprises: a controller to access one or more content data streams, wherein each of the content data streams is identified by a content provider, and further wherein the controller is configured to receive a request for specific content from an end user device, to apply a second quality of service to the broadband content data stream based on the content provider and to selectively transmit one of the one or more content data streams to the end user device according to the request; and b. a transmission infrastructure having a first quality of service that is applied to all of the content streams transmitted over the infrastructure; wherein the first quality of service is different than the second quality of service.
 8. (canceled)
 9. The system of claim 7 wherein the end user device comprises one of a computer, a television, a telephone, a personal digital assistant, and music players/recorders.
 10. The system of claim 7 wherein the end user device is coupled to a first network access point by a wireless connection or by a wired connection.
 11. The system of claim 7 wherein a first end user network access point comprises a wired router or a wireless router.
 12. The system of claim 7 wherein a first end user network access point comprises a wired modem or a wireless modem.
 13. The system of claim 7 wherein a first end user network access point comprises a wireless access point.
 14. (canceled)
 15. A method of collecting usage statistics related to broadband content provided to a plurality of end user devices, the method comprising: a. accessing one or more content data streams over a transmission infrastructure having a first quality of service that is applied to all of the content streams transmitted over the infrastructure by a local end user network access point, wherein each content data stream is identified by a content provider; b. receiving a request for specific content from an end user device by the local end user network access point; applying a second quality of service to the content data stream based on the content provider, wherein the first quality of service is different than the second quality of service; and c. selectively transmitting one of the one or more content data streams to the end user device according to the request;
 16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to apply the second quality of service to the content data stream independent of the content provider.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to apply the second quality of service to the content data stream based on the content.
 18. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to apply the second quality of service to the content data stream based on the content provider, the content and content characteristics.
 19. The system of claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to apply the second quality of service to the content data stream independent of the content provider.
 20. The system of claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to apply the second quality of service to the content data stream based on the content.
 21. The system of claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to apply the second quality of service to the content data stream based on the content provider, the content and content characteristics.
 22. The method of claim 15 wherein the second quality of service is applied to the content data stream independent of the content provider.
 23. The method of claim 15 wherein the second quality of service is applied to the content data stream based on the content.
 24. The method of claim 15 wherein the second quality of service is applied to the content data stream based on the content provider, the content and content characteristics. 